As an aside, if you've ever been arrested, you can't (legally) enter the US under visa waiver and have to go through the rigmarole of disclosing and applying for a visa even to go on vacation there. Had to drop someone from my wedding party because of this :-(
I'ma UK citizen, and I've filled in the VWP (Visa Waiver Program) green slips travelling to the US.
The question on the form used to be "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" but after 9/11 the question was changed to "Have you ever been arrested?".
Whether you were convicted is irrelevant, and the only exception is for traffic offences.
Important: Some travelers may not be eligible to enter the United States visa free
under the VWP. These include people who have been arrested, even if the
arrest did not result in a criminal conviction, those with criminal records,
(the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act does not apply to U.S. visa law), certain
serious communicable illnesses, those who have been refused admission into,
or have been deported from, the United States, or have previously overstayed on
the VWP. Such travelers must apply for special restricted visas. If they attempt
to travel without a visa, they may be refused entry into the United States.
So if you actually were convicted, then you're pretty much screwed. But an arrest without conviction creates a very high artificial barrier (months of delay and financial cost) to entry and a very powerful tool for the authorities.
I now choose not to participate in any form of public protest or demonstration for fear that actions by others that might result in disorder could lead me to be arrested and harm my work and private life in the future.
Here is a man denied entry to the US for taking a drug in a different country, that was legal at the time, as part of psychological research.Dr Feldmar concluded in another article of that time (which I can't find to quote) that his real crime was in not having the imagination to understand the world in which he now lived.
If a man can be judged, without a jury, and penalised for actions in the past that were legal at the time in a different country altogether, then this world is not the one I thought it was and I realise that the only protection I can offer myself it to acknowledge what this world actually is.
Awesome comment - useful info! I noted that change too.
I now choose not to participate in any form of public protest or demonstration for fear that actions by others that might result in disorder could lead me to be arrested and harm my work and private life in the future.
I'm the same, except it's because I've come to realize protest has no effectiveness against anything that the powers that be really want to push through. Life certainly became less stressful for me once I realized my political opinions or actions would have zero impact or relevance on a national level - so now I get on with more interesting stuff that does make a difference directly to me and my family :-)
I don't think any of the airport security circus works any more. People just answer the questions to get past the bureaucracy.
It's like other things in life though - when I call up ADSL support, they start with "Are you using windows". If you answer 'no', they say they don't support anything else. So I answer yes so that I'll at least get through to the next stage of bureaucracy.
The EU and the US have a lot of data sharing, mostly in one direction (EU to US). Indeed, you now have to register with the US (through the ESTA scheme) in advance so they have the opportunity to run background checks on you if they so wish.
I suspect you could get away with lying still right now as the system's so new, but I bet it won't be long before they'll be able to pull up British police records (if any) at the US immigration counter - or at least verify if you were ever arrested or not.
Sure, there's a lot of BS that goes on, you're supposed to provide an address you're staying at in the US as well.
Last time I flew (UK-US), I didn't know the address (I know how to drive there, can't remember the address though), so the kind check-in assistant just put "hilton, san fransisco" or something.
Another time I got pulled over for a hand luggage check. I had packed my laptop bag to bursting with various gadgets cables toys food etc etc etc. The guy opened it up, took one look inside and his face fell. You could see he was thinking "I'll be damned if I'm going to unpack all that and pack it back up". So he didn't, and just waved me along.
Perhaps I'm just lucky, but I don't think they really check too much. Which is actually slightly worrying.
You could see he was thinking "I'll be damned if I'm going to unpack all that and pack it back up". So he didn't, and just waved me along.
You are lucky :-) If you do get your hand luggage checked like that, they aren't the ones packing it back up; you are. I discovered this the hard way when rushing to make a 2 hour transfer at Atlanta and I only barely made it..
